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It wasn’t a life and death feud. The events that occurred in the village wouldn’t be reported to the government. These things were usually privately taken care of by the village chief. It was Ji Qian who heard that Zhao Qingqing was going to elope with someone else. It was Grandma Ji who lost her money. Both of them were members of the Ji family. It was all he-said-she-said, and there was no proof.
The Ji family asked the Zhao family to return the original gift of four taels of silver and the eight taels of silver Grandma Ji had lost, but the Zhao family didn’t agree.
After the Ji family caused such a fuss inside the village, Zhao Qingqing’s reputation sank. The reputation of the Zhao family was also affected. Others had to carefully consider when they chose their children’s marriage. A daughter from the Zhao family originally had an engagement, but the other family was thinking about withdrawing the engagement. This made the Zhao family run around like crazy. There was no evidence to prove that Zhao Qingqing had eloped nor could anyone prove that Grandma Ji had lost eight taels of silver. They weren’t going to compensate for anything.
In the end, under the persuasion of the two village chiefs, the Zhao family agreed to return the four taels of silver that were used as wedding gifts. The Zhao family promised that Ji Ya and Zhao Qingqing were still married. He could also marry another wife. If Zhao Qingqing was found, they would catch him and let the Ji family deal with him.
The person who was most dissatisfied with this solution was Old Lady Ji and Liu Yufeng. She hated the shameless Zhao Qingqing, and she hated that the four taels of silver that were returned were taken away by Old Lady Ji. If it was left for their family, they could have found another wife for Ji Ya. “This is all that damn Zhao Qingqing’s fault. If he wanted to leave, he should have just left, but he dared take Old Lady Ji’s money! I’m so pissed.”
The ax split the firewood as Ji Ya silently chopped the firewood. Liu Yufeng was complaining in his ear. Thinking of Zhao Qingqing’s voice and smile, Ji Ya felt like he was in a daze.
When Lin Lixuan and Ji Yan arrived at the Ji residence, they were just in time for Eldest Ji’s family to eat. The Ji family used to all eat together, but now that Old Lady Ji was lying in bed thinking about the lost eight taels of silver, she had no intention of eating. Without Old Lady Ji present, the other three families naturally did their own thing.
Handing over the basket of soup dumplings to Li Yue’e, Ger Yan and Lin Lixuan didn’t stay too long and left soon after. When they left, they saw Ji Ya chopping wood. He seemed to be venting all his resentment and anger inside his body with the wood and ax.
The sky quickly darkened. The waning moon was bullied by the cold wind branches. The wind blew for a few more days and the new years came.
On the thirtieth day of the lunar month, on the eve of Chinese New Year, the three members of the Lin family all got up very early. There was light snow last night, but there was no shadow of it on the ground when they got up this morning. Only under the eaves, there were still inches of ice formed in the night. The ice crystals covered the leaves on the treetops, shining in the faint morning light.
Chinese new year, it was the time to leave the old and welcome the new. The three had a simple breakfast of a few buns and a bowl of soy milk. They began to clean up each room. Since a few days ago, they’ve been successively cleaning the dust everywhere. Today, they only needed to sweep the floor and wipe all the furniture with a rag to welcome the new year.
Zhao Liniang went to tidy the firewood shed and the chicken coop and gave the group of little chicksl the joy of the festival. Ger Yan was in charge of the kitchen and utility room at home. He arranged the dishes and chopsticks and threw out the moldy things. Lin Lixuan held the rags he’d cut up using old clothes and wiped the basin of water at his feet and all the furniture in the corner of the hall.
At noon, the three of them finished cleaning. They had a casual lunch, then began preparing other things.
Lin Lixuan dragged a large square table to write couplets in the courtyard. He folded the red paper, cut it with a knife to the correct size. Ger Yan came over to grind the ink for him. The ink gradually thickened. He wet the brush. Lin Lixuan waved his pen and wrote several couplets in succession. Ger Yan spread the written couplet on the ground to let the ink dry. Lin Lixuan stood beside the couplet and read it. He took out the ones she thought were bad.
“Are these not good?” Ger Yan was holding the red paper. The couplet in his hand was taken away by Lin Lixuan.
Lin Lixuan shook his head and said, “It’s not.”
Ger Yan thought it was a pity. He felt that every word Lin Lixuan wrote was good. “What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s crooked.” Lin Lixuan put the brush on the brush holder and asked Ger Yan to write one too. Ger Yan tried to refuse, but then copied a few of the words written by Lin Lixuan onto the red paper. After he finished, he thought it looked bad, so he wanted to roll it up and hide it. Who knew that Zhao Liniang happened to pass by and saw the couplet he ordered, then said, “Ger Yan wrote this? It’s very good. Hang it on the kitchen door.”
Lin Lixuan covered his smile with his hand. He picked up a couplets that looked good, then picked up Ger Yan like a kitchen and said, “Let’s go and hang up the couplets…”
If he had known this earlier, he wouldn’t have written anything at all. The differences in their couplets were like a county town and village, and she wanted him to post it on the kitchen door. People would see it year round. If guests came to their house, Ger Yan would be terribly embarrassed and ashamed. He was about to tear it up, but Lin Lixuan pushed him to the door like a supervisor and encouraged, “Go on and post it.”
Lin Lixuan looked at the other party’s embarrassed appearance and laughed in his heart. Suddenly, he stepped on many fragments of ice that had fallen from the leaves of the big tree in front of the house. He couldn’t help but look up at the treetops and grabbed a complete frozen leaf. It looked like a real leaf that had come out from a mold. It was like a piece of art.
It was different from the snowy north. Jade Creek Village was located in the relatively warm south. It was a wonder for them to have a few light snowfalls this year. Even if there was no thick layer of snow, the moisture in the strong wind blew them head-on, making people feel like they were being splashed with cold water. Ger Yan’s nose turned red. He was embarrassed as he pasted the couplet to the door. To his surprise, Lin-dage didn’t laugh at his ugly writing and only smiled at him gently before taking him to paste couplets to the other rooms.
How could Lin Lixuan truly bully Ger Yan? No matter how badly Ger Yan wrote, it was still written by him. Since they were putting them up at home, it didn’t matter who wrote it. He didn’t need to compete with other people. The two finished putting up the couplets. Their hands were dyed red from the red paper. Lin Lixuan looked at his palm and wiped his hand on Ger Yan’s face, hiding bad intentions. Ger Yan was used to being teased by him. At most, he would shrink his neck shyly. He didn’t notice anything amiss and happily smiled brightly. He returned to his room to find the big red lantern he’dd purchased from the county town a few days ago before hanging the lantern by the door.
Under Lin Lixuan’s tentative care, Ger Yan’s face had gained a lot of fat. And with the red stains that had been secretly rubbed onto his face, he looked very smart and cute, and a little playful.
Ger Yan hugged the lantern and smiled. Lin Lixuan looked at Ger Yan’s face and smiled. The two smiled together as they hung the two red lanterns under the eaves. He cut out the red paper and pasted the word 福1 upside down. Zhao Liniang came out of the firewood shed and inspected the masterpieces her son and his husband had done while she walked. She saw the two of them inside the house, and saw Ger Yan’s cute kitten-like face stained with red. She glared at the initiator with disgust and gently told Ger Yan to wash himself.
“The hot water has already been boiled. Ger Yan will wash first. Go look in the mirror and see how your face has been messed up by Xuan’Er…”
Ger Yan didn’t know what she was talking about. What was wrong with his face? He subconsciously rubbed his face, but he’d forgotten that his hands were still stained with red. With a touch, the red on his face became even darker and more chaotic. Zhao Liniang couldn’t help laughing and said, “You keep rubbing it. Look at your hand. It’s covered in dye.”
Ger Yan suddenly realized. “Lin-dage, you’re too much!” Annoyed and angry, he also wiped his hands on Lin Lixuan’s face. It took a few seconds for Lin Lixuan to comprehend that this nimble kitten was wiping his hands on his face. Zhao Liniang stood by the window and applauded as she said, “Okay, now there’s two cats in the house.”
Lin Lixuan grabbed Ger Yan’s waist and said, “Alright, enough. Stop and go take a bath, Ger Yan.”
Ger Yan glared at him, then turned to grab clothes from his room to take a bath. Zhao Liniang remained behind. “Go wash your hands first, so you don’t stain your clothes.”
The two were driven to the well to wash their hands and faces. Fortunately, the well water was warm in the winter and didn’t sting them with the coldness. Lin Lixuan wiped his face with a towel. Ger Yan poured water into the wooden basin. He had to rub hard to rub the crimson color off his face. Ger Yan’s little face was rubbed red from the action. The corners of his eyes were watery. His eyes were shining as if they had been soaked in water.
Lin Lixuan couldn’t help but pull the person into his arms and kissed his bright, red lips. He had wanted to do this for a long time. The red color on Ger Yan’s face was like rouge, giving him an air of charm, and Lin Lixuan wanted to pull him into his arms and love on him. Lin Lixuan realized that these days, he had more impulses toward Ger Yan…
Ger Yan was still angry. He didn’t want to kiss him at all. When the two usually kissed, he was very cooperative. They would release their tongues and let them battle each other. But this time, he pushed the other party away. Lin Lixuan used a lot of strength, so Ger Yan couldn’t break free. Besides, Ger Yan’s struggle sent a wave of aggressiveness through Lin Lixuan. His actions were rougher than usual, and Ger Yan couldn’t reset. He soon lost the battle.
Ger Yan’s legs went weak. Lin Lixuan held his waist with one hand while the other groped along the seam of his clothes. His cold hand touched the warm skin. Ger Yan’s entire body quivered. The two of them suddenly separated. Ger Yan didn’t look at Lin Lixuan as he turned around in a panic and ran off, as if there was a beast chasing him.
Lin Lixuan squatted down and continued washing his hand as he repeated the core values of socialism in his heart.
- Means good fortune/luck/happiness. Some people believe that by hanging it upside down in your house, it will bringing these things to the household. ↩︎
